The Yars RS-24 Is a Russian-made mobile nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile which can be mounted on truck carrier or deployed in silos. The first production of Yars began in 2004. The layout of the vehicle is similar to the Topol-M SS-27. Russia fully deployed the first Yars RS-24 regiment consisting of three battalions in August 2011, and put two battalions of the second regiment on combat duty on December 27 last year. A second regiment of the Teikovo Missile Division in central Russia will be fully equipped with Yars mobile ballistic missile systems in 2012, Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) spokesman Col. Vadim Koval said on Thursday, February 16, 2012. The RS-24 Yars is a modification of the SS-27 Topol-M. According to information from the manufacturer, the RS-24 Yars is able to penetrate highly protected targets and also any current Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System. The first firing test was conducted in May 2007, when it was launched from Plesetsk in northwest Russia and hit its target in the Kura firing range in Kamchatka in Russia's Far East.

The missile RS-24 is a three-stage, solid propellant, MIRV-capable (Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles) ICBM (InterContinental Ballistic Missile) with a range of 10,500 km. The missile uses a guidance upgraded system of the inertial and Glonass system used in the RS-12M2 (Topol-M SS-27) missile. The accuracy is expected to be around 250 m CEP (Circular Error of Probability). RS-24 is expected to have a minimum range of 2,000 km, and a maximum range of 10,500 km. The RS-24 missile can be armed with up to 10 warheads.

Mobility

The RS-24 missile will be deployed both in silos and on mobile platforms. The mobile system RS-24 Yars is mounted on a MZKT-79221 truck 16x16. The MZKT-79221 chassis was proposed as the base for a new yet more powerful strategic complex of Topol-M with the RS-12M2 missiles with a weight of 47t and a length of about 18m, warheads included. The chassis is intended for operations on all type of roads and surveyed terrain at an ambient temperature of -50° to +45°. The special MZKT-79221 chassis is a long-wheelbase frame chassis with a wheel arrangement of 16x16 and steerable wheels of the first, second, third and sixth, seventh and eighth axles. The engine is of the YaMz-847, 10 12 cylinder V2 Diesel multifuel, four-stroke type with gas turbocharging, charged air cooling, liquid cooling and a power of 588 kW (800 hp). The suspension is of an independent hydro pneumatic type with pairwise hydraulic braces of the wheel suspension on sides. The wheels are of a disk type with a dismountable rim. The tires are of a wide cross-section pressure regulation type with dimensions of 1600x600-685.The tire air pressure regulation system is centralized and controlled from the driver seat. It consists of a control cock, wheel shutoff valves and piping.

Truck design

The MZKT-79221 has two cabs right and left of the engine. There are two separate plastic-glass cabs with the left one having two seats and the right one having one seat. The additional equipment includes a filtering and ventilation system, a heater, communication facilities and a degassing system.